Lost Signal
by OptimusPrime13
Summary: The autobots intercepted an energon signal on the planet Jupiter. All was good, until, they realized who it belonged to. Can they get to her before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

"I don't care if I am left alone, Optimus Prime. You have to promise me that you won't come back for me."

"You know I won't do that. I love you…"

"I know. I love you too. But we can't make the same mistakes that we did before. Do you understand me?"

"But I can't. They're getting closer, I know I can help you!"

"No. You must go on. Think of the other lives you could lose today. All of your other hard working Autobots that will never leave without you. Think of Earth, and all that you stand for, Optimus Prime. Think of our son."

"Exactly why I won't stand here and let his mother tell me that she isn't worth fighting for. I won't leave you here to die in the hands of the Decepticons."

"You're forgetting one thing. I survived 3,000 years in a Decepticon War Camp. I think I can survive here until a search party comes and finds me."

"I will return, my love."

"I will be waiting every heartbeat."

A shadow appears behind the lonely transformer.

"Is it done?"

"Yes. It is, my lord."

Set in the realm of transformers prime, a signal was detected on the planet Jupiter. After informing Optimus Prime of it, Arcee and Optimus leave to investigate. What they find there leaves them on a newly found adventure.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ratchet, where are those signals coming from?" a booming voice shouts as it stomps down the hallway towards the hanger.

"It is coming from the planet Jupiter," Raf, the human child, announces. "It's a gas planet, right past Mars."

"Why haven't we recieved them before?" Bulkhead, the big green one, asked.

"We've never looked outside of Earth. Arcee just recently brought up the other seven planets-"

"Eight, actually." Miko interrupted Ratchet.

"Whatever. The other eight planets in our recentt lack of finding energon." Ratchet continued, checking the signal. He stared at the screen, and his eyed widened greatly. "This is no energon signal."

"What is it then?"

"Cons? We'll go bust their heads open. I've been itching for a fight." Wheeljack stood, and walked over.

"Yes, there is Decepticon activity on the core, but that's not what I'm looking at. It's an Autobot life signal, A female Autobot life signal. One that has been lost since the very beginning of the Cybertronian wars."

"Ooh, a lady." Smokescreen winked. "I say, I get to be the big shot Autobot war hero that saves her."

"I already called dibs!" Bulkhead argued.

"Hold it, guys." Arcee said, stepping forward. "If it's who I think it is, you may have some extra large competition." She turned to Ratchet.. "I've only heard stories, about how the greatest female leader became the fighter of Megatron when the Prime couldn't." she sighed. "Is it her?"

"Well, if it's a Prime then I'm golden." Bulkhead said. "I'm the strongest here, and the only living Prime is Optimus, and there's no way he'll have any sexual emotion about him." Pause. "Right?"

Everyone looked at Ratchet.

"I better radio him in."

* * *

" _Ratchet to Optimus Prime. Come in Optimus."_ his radio blazed in the setting Earth sun.

The large transformer sighed and looked up at the skies.

"Optimus Prime, Ratchet, what is it?" he responded, voice echoing in the mountains behind him.

" _We have something here we might need you to check out."_ Ratchet paused. " _It's about a female life signal we have found. The boys are anxious to go get her."_

"I'm on my way."

Optimus stopped and looked up at the skies, one last time.

"Why do I feel this now, Elita?" he asked the few stars. "It's been so long, and I'm just now missing you again. I haven't stopped my search. I never will." he paused and sighed. "Maybe this female transformer will know where I can find you. I love you darling, I will find you."

As the great transformer rolled away, he, for alone and quietly, cried.

* * *

"She'll have blue eyes," Bulkhead said.

"She'll be a wonderful shade of purple," Wheeljack added.

"And she'll know how to change oil." Smokescreen sighed.

Ratchet rolled his eyes and returned to his work.

A large, blue and red semi truck pulled up and parked. It paused a moment and then transformed.

"Optimus Prime," Arcee nodded, helping Ratchet do some fancy technical work.

Ratchet turned around. "Optimus Prime." he acknowledged.

Optimus looked around. "Where are Bumblebee? And the kids?"

"I sent them out on a drive. I knew that these were dangerous times. Especially with this information and those three loones over there." Ratchet looked at Prime. He started to say something, but was interrupted with-

"Optimus Prime, have you ever had a girlfriend?"

Silence.

"Ratchet. what do we know about this life signal?" Prime asked with a straight face.

"We know that Bulkhead has first dibs at rescuing her," Wheeljack said, showing Prime a new dent in his left arm.

"No, he doesn't," Ratchet said, finally stopped messing with his computer. "I have confirmed our suspicions, Arcee."

"What do you mean I don't?" Bulkhead said. "I won that fight fair and square."

"Bulkhead," Arcee turned. "Unless you plan on fighting Optimus Prime for his girl, I suggest you stop."

Optimus Prime stopped. He walked slowly forward towards the screen that Ratchet had up. Ratchet stepped aside, then went over to talk to the others.

"There's no way Optimus has a girl. There's no way. All due respect, but Optimus Prime doesn't seem to be the loving-a-girl kind of guy."

"That's because there's only one girl, Bulkhead. Didn't you ever pay attention in your history class?" Arcee asked him.

"Bulkhead and I always screwed around in that class." Wheeljack smiled.

"I skipped that class when I skipped grades," Smokescreen said, smiling at his smartness.

"Well then, you better start learning." Ratchet said, looking over his shoulder at Prime, who was standing at the computer, hand raised at the screen.

"I still don't believe you. She's going to be hott!" Wheeljack nudged Bulkheads shoulder.

"Yeah, and she'll be all mine." Bulkhead smiled.

Suddenly, a piece of metal the size of a computer barely missed Bulkhead's head.

All eyes turned to see Optimus Prime, running forward, and grabbing Bulkhead and Wheeljack, shoving them against a wall.

"You will stay away from her," he growled, completely dropping his Prime state of respect and control.

Bulkhead and Wheeljack were silenced, and they simply nodded. Prime threw them aside and turned to Ratchet.

"Open that bridge." he demanded.

Ratchet sighed. "Optimus Prime, I need you to get a hold of yourself first." Prime growled here. "You're blinded by hate and anger, and do you know what happened last time you went after her in this state? The damages it caused? Your spark can't take more hurt like before. Mental, or physical."

Prime took a moment. Breathing deeply, he fell to his knees in front of Ratchet. Never meeting his eyes, he said "Please, Ratchet. I can't live another moment without her…"

Arcee kneeled next to the great transformer. "Optimus," she said. "Look at me."

Prime gently raised his eyes to meet hers.

"I am not her. I know I am not. Many girls have different opinions on love and men. But if I where her, I wouldn't mind waiting another couple minutes just so you could take a drive and clear your head. I'll go with you, come on." Arcee stood, and offered Prime a hand.

The great Autobot leader took her hand, and stood. They both transformed and rolled out side-by-side.

When they left, Ratchet examined Wheeljack and Bulkhead.

"What was that about?" Miko asked, herself, Jack, Raf and Bumblebee appeared from a hiding spot in a wall.

Ratchet sighed as he realized the four witnessed the whole thing.

"It all started when Orion Pax and his girlfriend, Ariel, where outside of their home, watering their plants." Ratchet began telling the story. "The Decepticons dropped a bomb, which landed on their home. Luckily, Ariel was out of reach of any real danger and harm, but Orion, he wasn't so lucky. She found him bent and banged and dented on the ground. Ariel managed to carry him to the nearest war station, 27 Earth miles away. There, they reconstructed them both to be fighters. They were programmed with the urge to protect those who are innocent, and fight for peace and freedom throughout all the lands. They were given new names. Ariel was now Elita One, Orion Pax was now Optimus Prime.

"In the beginning of the war, Optimus Prime was still very attached to his brother, Megatron. So, Elita fought him while Optimus led the foot soldiers to battle on the army Megatron brought with them. They made a circle around the two protecting Elita from any distractions the Decepticons might try. One fight though, something was different. Maybe it was the confidence of the troops, maybe it was the fact that Elita had just given birth to an egg, who knows what the problem was, but that fight, the Decepticons won. They took Elita away from Optimus, and was never heard from again.

"Optimus Prime searched all galaxies near and far from Cybertron, but in three years time, he returned empty handed.

"In the three years he was gone, the Decepticons mostly exterminated the Autobots. Prime returned gathered up the remaining Autobots and charged his brother. But, he charged with anger, revenge. And that led to his destruction. They brought me to the remains of Optimus, and there I performed my first healing. There, we became great companions. But never had I left a patient with that much damage. I fixed him up best I could and as I learned, I've opened him up quite a few times after that too add something here and there. But even after that, …" Ratchet paused, and sighed. "To this very day, there are many things wrong with his spark."

* * *

"And now," Optimus came to a conclusion, telling his own story to Arcee. "Everytime I think of her here on Earth, I come to this place. The stars are very close, and I feel closer to her myself."

Arcee looked around. They were on a mountain side that she didn't think any humans had found yet. There were many trees and birds, but not much else. The stars did, in fact, seem closer. Almost as if you could reach up and touch them.

"I never had a boyfriend," she said, looking up. "I did have a crush though. We never made it official, but there was one. He went off to war, right after we got out of school. He promised me he'd be back, but he never was. He disappeared.

Optimus Prime looked over at her, to see her looking up at the stars, tears forming in her eyes. "What was his name?"

"Ironhide."

He looked back up. "I knew him. He was my right hand man after …. after."

"Did he ever say anything about me? Do you know what happened to him?"

Optimus sighed. "He said many things about a girl he left at home. Always talked about her, saying how proud he was of her and how he had to make something of himself before he could take her hand. He led the second team on the last mission before we left for Earth. I never recieved word that he was dead, but then again,.. I never saw him again. …. I'm sorry."

"Who knows." She sniffled, looking back up. "Maybe I'll find him with Elita."

Optimus smiled slightly. "We'll never know if we don't get back."

Arcee stood and started walking away.

"Arcee." Optimus called after her. Arcee turned and looked at the great transformer standing in the moonlight. "Thank you."

She smiled. "Let's go get our lovers back."


	3. Chapter 3

"Ratchet, open the gate." Optimus said, pulling into the Hanger. "Bumblebee, Arcee and I will go through. Wheeljack, Bulkhead and Smokescreen will stay behind to help you to set up all medical equipment needed to perform any kind of damage that could be done to not only, Elita, but also to an old comrade."

Ratchet looked up. He bounced around the eyes of Optimus Prime and Arcee. "Ironhide?"

"We have reason to believe that Ironhide is up there as well, and many other Autobots." Arcee explained, choking up a few of the words.

"Alright." Ratchet walked over to the lever and pulled it.

Jack walked up to Arcee. "Ironhide? Who is Ironhide?"

"I'll bring him home, and I'll show you." she smiled, and followed Optimus Prime through the portal.

* * *

On the other side of the portal, they were met with guns in their face. Blue light glowing at the end, two young eyes poked around the other side.

"Optimus Prime?" a shaky voice said.

Optimus looked at Arcee. The transformer there was obviously just a small kid. He looked back at the kid, and smiled.

"And, who might this brave young man be?" he asked smiling.

The young transformer lowered his gun. The dark air around them improved the already depressing mood. He sighed and started telling his story.

"I don't really have a name. I don't see my mommy much. The Decepticons have her. They don't know I'm here. You're not going to tell them, are you?"

"No, I'm not." Arcee said. "And neither will he."

"Good." he smiled.

"Are the Decepticons good to your mommy?"

"No." he said, matter-of-factly. "They're really mean to her. They hit and kick her. Sometimes, they'll take their knife and stab her a couple of times. They don't really feed her and her friends either, that's what I do." he smiled at this. "I go out and steal their food. I'm small enough, I can."

"I bet you're a real big help." Optimus Prime said. "Can you take us to your mommy?"

"You're not going to hurt her either, are you?" he raised his gun slightly.

"No, I came here to take your mommy, and you, and all of her friends away from here, back to my home."

"Follow me!"

* * *

"Bulkhead, I needed that!" Ratchet's voice echoed throughout the base.

Miko laughed. "That's Bulk for ya. Always getting in trouble somehow."

"Hey Ratchet," Jack asked, walking towards the large robot in front of him. "Who is Ironhide, and why does he mean so much to Arcee?"

"There's a lot I don't know about those two. But, what I do know is that they were in fact in a relationship. Ironhide joined our crew just after Optimus got back from his search. We made four or five runs, and Ironhide gained Optimus' respect and trust. He became his right hand man. After we made our decision to come to Earth, we threw one more attack on the Decepticons. We divided into two groups, one led by Optimus Prime, one led by Ironhide. They were hit harder than us, and the few that made it through told us Ironhide said to go on through, because the army would take down the ship. Which they did, but that's a different story. When Arcee came to Earth, we told her what happened, and she never lost hope that Ironhide was still out there. She never let that stop her either, and she's only fought harder since that day."

"So, Arcee has a boyfriend? Oh, I so didn't know that! We could talk boys, do all that girly stuff that I can't do with you two!" Miko smiled.

The boys stared at her.

"What? I like talking about boys just as much as anyone else!"

"Okay, Okay, jeez." Jack said.

* * *

The boy led Optimus Prime and Arcee to the back of what looked like a mountain. He signaled for them to keep down and be quiet, and he walked straight through the mountain. They shrugged, and crawled after him.

Behind the mountain, they saw hell. There was dead Autobots all over the place. It looked like a mass murder. The boy stopped and crawled up to them.

"Mom says these people are sleeping," he whispered. "They don't ever wake up. They are her friends." he smiled

This comment put Arcee into shock. If they're all dead, Ironhide could be too. She plowed ahead of Optimus Prime, and followed close behind the boy.

A few minutes later, the boy held up a hand. He signaled for them to wait, and ran through the hole in the wall ahead.

"Mommy, mommy, Optimus Prime is here!" He whispered excitedly. Pause. "Mommy?"

"She's sleeping," a voice boomed. It was a strong voice, but there was a hint of pain and suffering in it. "Is it true? Is Optimus Prime here?"

"Yes! They're right outside, I can go get them if you don't believe me."

"No, you must stay here with your mother."

"Why? She's going to wake up soon, I'll be back then."

Silence. "She may not. Not unless I can convince the Decepticons to leave her alone for a while."

Optimus Prime took a hold of this moment. He moved forward, about to go through the hole, when the door busted open. Prime ducked back down, and looked up at the room. He couldn't make out if the girl on the bed was Elita, but the booming voice was most definitely didn't tell Arcee. The one who busted through the door was a Decepticon.

"Is it true?" he asked. "Is Optimus Prime really here?"

Ironhide shoved the boy behind him, and stood in front of the girl on the bed. "That information, I'm afraid, is not available at the moment."

The Decepticon answered by punching him, and grabbing the boy. "Where is he, or I'll kill ELita and her son!"

"Ironhide, help me!" The boy yelled.

At this point in time, looking back on it, Optimus Prime was pretty proud of himself. He didn't run forward to save Elita, and he didn't allow Arcee to do the same for Ironhide. Instead, they waited a little longer, Arcee at his side. Ironhide was doubled over on the ground, and Elita cowered on the bed. The Decepticon kicked and punched Ironhide until he flopped over, where he stepped on him and peered over Elita.

"Ready," Prime said

"I knew I should've killed you when Megatron first brought us here." he said, raising a knife.

"Now!" Optimus said. He rushed through the hole in the wall, grabbing the decepticon. Arcee ran through the door, killing the other four guards standing outside. Optimus grabbed the boy, sat him down by Ironhide and his mother, and threw the Decepticon back against the wall. The other four Decepticons let go of Arcee, and backed away slowly. "Arcee, go get the three, and radio Ratchet. Tell him the situation, send Bulkhead and Wheeljack through to get Ironhide and the boy and anyother remaining Autobot that's alive. Leave the portal open, have Smokescreen come through and guard it. I'll get Elita as soon as I handle these."

Arcee nodded and got out of the way just fast enough for Prime to chase after the five.

* * *

"Cool!" the boy said. "Is this really where you live!?"

"Not really us," Jack explained. "Just the Autobots. I live with my mom somewhere else, just as Miko and Raf do."

"But you come here, and stay with the Autobots? Awesome."

"I guess it's like our second home," Raf added.

Suddenly, the boy stopped. He turned and looked at the three. "Mommy says that that place we lived in wasn't our home. That our home was far, far away, and that one day we'd see it, together. I never believed her, because nothing she said ever came true. But now it did."

"What all did she say?" Miko asked.

"She said Optimus Prime, my daddy, would find us one day, and save us. She said he promised her, and that daddy never broke his promises." he sighed. "I wish she'd get better."

"Don't worry," Miko smiled and took his giant hand in hers. "Ratchet is doing everything they can to save her. Optimus Prime won't let her get hurt, ever again."

"Promise?"

The three nodded. "Promise."

* * *

"I'm losing her!" Ratchet yelled, connecting more wires. "Optimus, push harder!"

Optimus sat at the left of Elita, pushing Energon through a tube that led directly into Elita's spark. As easy as it sounds, it was pretty darn hard, and it had Optimus Prime going as hard as he could. Bulkhead sweeped over Elita with a detector again, and again it came up blue.

"I don't understand!" Bulkhead yelled. "Why isn't this working?"

"It's the same thing that happened when I met Optimus Prime in that field. It'll stop here any moment." Just as Ratchet said moment, the line representing Elita's life signal, bounced. Then again. "Haha, see? Told you! Haha!"

As it got steadier and steadier, Optimus rolled around the table to Elitas side. There, he stood, waiting her to wake. The others left, leaving the two alone. Arcee and Ironhide had went off on a drive a while back, he wasn't as bad as Elita was. The boy left with the kids to have a tour around the base.

Elita's eyes fluttered open, and narrowed at once.

"What do you want?"


End file.
